Preferences for birth center care in the Netherlands: an exploration of ethnic differences

BACKGROUND To examine the preferences for comprehensive services and facilities in a new proposed birth center which will be established in a large Dutch city, specifically among pregnant women from different ethnic backgrounds. METHODS The analyses of this study were based on a survey among 200 pregnant women living in The Hague, the Netherlands in 2011. Multiple linear regression was applied to analyze if preferences differ by ethnic background, controlling for various other predictors. RESULTS Pregnant women had relatively strong preferences for comprehensive services and facilities to be offered by the new proposed birth center compared to both other dimensions of birth center care: extensive practical information and comfortable accommodation. With regard to ethnic differences, non-Dutch women had higher preferences for comprehensive care compared to Dutch women. This difference between Dutch and non-Dutch women increased with their level of education. CONCLUSIONS Especially for non-Dutch women, birth centers that are able to provide comprehensive services and facilities can potentially be a good setting in which to give birth compared to hospitals or at home. In particular, higher educated non-Dutch women had a preference for the personalized care that could be offered by this new birth center.